Rules And Regulations

Hello Everyone! My name is Alexadner and I work in the Virigina General Assembly in the House of Delegates. After recieving various calls and e-mails from concerned CDL holders about new regulation, I wanted to do some research into extctly what the regulations are and how they have changed in recent years. We are also interested in learning how these regulations are affecting everyday trucker's like yourselves.

Any information you all have regarding these points would be immensely helpful!

You need to call me, as I've been a lifelong resident of the Commonwealth of VA for 50+ years. I have lots and lots of info for you fine folks in Richmond that always want money. I have homes in both Highland County and the City of Virginia Beach. Charles Carpenter

Since it is federal laws that govern our hour of service, there isn't much you can do. The new regulations are causing overcrowding in truck stops, and leaving drivers in tough situations, drive illegally to find parking or park illegally and get fined and towed.

Virginia rest areas suck. Parking is limited and VA DOT will ticket and threaten drivers who park on the on and off ramps of the rest areas. Having to parallel park in them is a pain at night when you are exhausted, and trucks not pulling forward enough can create less room than designed.

i say VA needs slanted spaces with lined parking in the rest areas. Room for.dozens of trucks, not 5 to 10.

It’s not really “new” regulations.

It’s old regulations being monitored in a new way.

“The New Way” is forcing drivers to stay honest.

It’s forcing some companies to re-think and prioritize in a way that, again, keeps them honest.

You may want to get involved with the auditors in your state and have them audit (in real life) some major and little tranportstion companies (without trying to find someone guilty) in an effort to understand what corners have been cut and why. What can we do to eliminate the need to cut that corner and to have everyone understand what changes will occur again all without reprocussions for breaking the law...

I doubt you’ll find a whole lot on paper... I mean that’s where the complaint are rising... because now it’s electronic and it’s visible when a person edits there log...

If you really want to know the rules.

Please take a look at the high road training program you will learn all the rules and regulations better than most truckers...

Then come back

Thanks everyone! You guys have helped us get started on improvements. As always, change in legislatures does take time, so I encourage you all to e-mail and call your representatives no matter what state you reside in.

On the topic of regulations though, I understand that there is a certain maximum amount of hours drivers are allowed to drive. If you are driving and you reach this maximum, are you required to pull over on the side of the highway? Or are you allowed to go a little further to find parking?

Additionally, I have found that several states are toying with the idea of placing governors on trucks so that they may not go over a certain speed. As drivers, do you believe this would be helpful or more hassle then it's worth? Explain.

Learn The Logbook Rules (HOS)

Most companies already have governed trucks. The "states" should keep their noses out of this, zero value. It's already confusing with states determining varying Kingpin Law with zero continuity. I can be totally legal in PA, cross into MD and required to comply with a different law.

Sorry bub, there's no reason to be worrying about restricting my truck. If there's an issue with my spotless driving record, my company is responsible and not some legislator. If you do even the least little bit of research, you'll find that well over 80% of the traffic incidents which occur between big trucks and automobiles are the fault of what we refer to as 4 wheelers. You should be more concerned about their reckless actions behind the wheel and not ours.

Alexander as part of your research, have you ever been in a truck? Riden in one? And not a Tinker-Toy, a big rig. Experience an inkling of what we do to ensure that you have fresh food to eat, clothes on your back, fine furniture to fill the rooms of your house built with material delivered by truck.

My fine sir if you want to do some real research here, I suggest you get into the dirt with us for just a short time and begin to see things through our eyes.

I suggest starting here, with these links learning about our business...

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Second and to Dragon's spot-on point, I sincerely suggest looking into better methods for teaching the non-commercial drivers (4-wheelers) how to safely coexist with trucks. If you really want to help us and the general public, start there. The skills, compliance with laws and basic common sense is non-existent with the average amateur driver. Horrible, unsafe and many times combative driving behaviors are frequently unleashed on Truckers by the 4-wheeling public.

Clean that "mess" up before putting further chokeholds on our top speed. Slow us down even more, and accidents will increase because all of the entitled and impatient drivers out there, more determined than ever will risk life and limb just to get around us.

My apologies if I came off seeming a bit frustrated but it's difficult when a legislator is inquiring about more regulations on an industry which is constantly being scrutinized while the real issues are ignored. As G-Town said, much more eloquently by the way, riding in a truck for a couple or even a few days would definitely enlighten you. I'd invite you to spend a few days over the road and a few days with someone on dedicated routes so that you can get a full grasp on the multitude of challenges we face every day. I'd also ask that you do an experiment while on your travels and keep count of how many people are on their phones and not paying attention while driving, the view from our seats makes it very easy. Simply looking at some numbers cobbled together to achieve a specific result in a presentation don't do any justice to the reality you will be exposed to.

I appreciate wanting to become more informed but as G Town said this shouldn't be a state issue. There shouldn't be different laws based on the state your driving through commercially. Nearly every load an OTR driver takes will travel through multiple states and as G Town also pointed out he can be legal in 1 state but go to the next and he's illegal. I think the state's need to stay out of it and have the federal level look into things. I thankfully stay in my home state so the laws of other states don't affect me so I have nothing of value to add to that, however if anybody was to be regulated more I'd honestly say the local drivers should be. With local drivers most of our day isn't spent driving. For instance I work for a food service company physically unloading my trailer. There are days I have to unload 19k PHYSICALLY, and drive. Average day I'd say is about 13 hours with only a couple of that spent driving. Yet for some reason the government has decided that it's ok for me to have 16 hours (as opposed to 14 for most drivers) to use up to 11 hours driving. That is a ridiculous idea in my opinion because the local driving is typically alot more stressful, dealing with alot more traffic than rolling down an interstate all day. If anything, OTR drivers should be allowed the same treatment of having 1 day they can do that as many times a driver burns up their 14 hour clock sitting in a dock.